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91 Can. B. Rev. 1 (2012)

handle is hein.journals/canbarev91 and id is 1 raw text is: Vol. 91 2012 No. 1 LEGAL ETHICS VERSUS POLITICAL PRACTICES: THE APPLICATION OF THE RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT TO LAWYER-POLITICIANS Andrew Flavelle Martin* Canadian legal ethics has paid little attention to how the rules of professional conduct for lawyers apply to lawyer-politicians - that is, politicians who happen to be lawyers. This article addresses this issue with reference to what Canadian case law and commentary do exist, supplemented by more plentiful American materials. It proposes a distinction between conduct that is politically expedient and conduct in which lawyer-politicians'duties as lawyers come into apparent conflict with their duties of office. Canadian case law reveals three conflicting approaches to this latter category: that the duties of a lawyer prevail, that the duties ofa politician prevail, and that the two sets ofduties must be balanced in the circumstances. The article then considers the legal barriers and policy considerations that may limit law societies' discipline of lawyer-politicians. It ends by considering potential approaches and solutions, concluding that law societies should regulate lawyer-politicians' conduct but should balance the professional obligations of those lawyers against their responsibilities as holders of public office. It also emphasizes that lawyer-politicians who do not want to be held to this standard should surrender their law licenses. SJD Candidate, University of Toronto. My thanks to Chris Kycinsky at the Great Library of the Law Society of Upper Canada for her assistance. Thanks also to Michael Frisch, Ethics Counsel at Georgetown Law, for his helpful comments at early stages of my research and on an early draft. This research was supported in part by a graduate fellowship from Georgetown Law. Changes proposed in this article are advocated in the public interest. THE CANADIAN BAR REVIEW LA REVUE DU BARREAU CANADIEN

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